GID

FOCUS

CHARTING
THE

SPICE
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A RESTAURANT IN
BARWA VILLAGE
DESIGNED BY
COLLABORATIVE
ARCHITECTS
THROWS LIGHT ON

THE BEAUTY
OF INTENT AND THE
DOWNSIDE OF AN
INDUSTRY THAT IS
NOT AS PROFICIENT
AS IT SHOULD BE.
BY SINDHU NAIR

ROUTE

Tucked in between discreet stores

in the dark and unlit shopping
complex of Barwa Village,
conceptualised to move the
shopping district away from the
centre of the city, is Spicy Route.
Touted as a mid-to-high-end
Indian eatery joint, the location
is the only aspect going against it.
This restaurant attracts you as you
pass by and makes you stand still
for a moment to catch a glimpse of
the interiors. Bright and curiously
aesthetic, each feature inside
makes you want to experience
the space, throwing light on the
intrinsic effect that design has
on ones senses. Collaborative
Architecture, renowned worldwide
for their ground-breaking designs,
for moving away from the norm
wherever possible, were the creators
behind this restaurant. Husbandwife duo, Mujib Ahmed and Lalitha
Tharani, who head the firm explain
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in brief: The clients, an influential Qatar

family, approached us to design this
project after coming across the multiple
international award-winning restaurant
project designed by Collaborative in
south India, which GID had featured
last year Inverted Topography. The
brief was to design a highly innovative
and contemporary Indian restaurant.
The client was quite clear that the
design does not get interpreted through
tried and tested kitsch Indian motifs
and iconography populated through
the space. The design should rather
be deciphered in a highly abstracted,
design-centric way.
For the local Qatari investors, Jassim
and Khalid, this was a first investment in

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the field of Food and Beverages, and they

were excited by this new venture. This
project is part of our family investment
and it is a completely new area for us
to invest in such a competitive field.
This field of business is so feasible and
it can be successful if it is planned and
envisioned well from the beginning. To
achieve the success in this area, you need
to select the right partner with you who
has the know-how and then after that
you need to select the right place and
location, says Jassim.
Keeping to the traditional,
Collaborative first zeroed in on the
material palette. We selected a material
palette, which would relate the space
to the cuisine, hence the reference to

The ubiquitous Spice Jars with the diffused glow at the

base form the backdrop for the dining space, giving the
restaurant its unmistakable tag and the origin of its
name Spicy Route, explains Lalitha Tharani.
copper and copper palette has been
widely stressed upon throughout the
design (and branding as originally
designed). The lights, which were custom
designed and fabricated, form much of
the ceiling of the restaurant, imparting a
warm diffused copper glow throughout
the dining space. The ubiquitous Spice
Jars with the diffused glow at the base
form the backdrop for the dining space,
giving the restaurant its unmistakable tag
and the origin of its name Spicy Route,
explains Lalitha Tharani.
According to the architects, the project
as it is executed today is only 50% of the
original design intent. The design got
highly compromised, as the project had
an inordinate delay and financial stress
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on the clients owing to heavy idle rental

they had incurred.
Lalitha explains, We had a highly
innovative screen designed to give
privacy and segregation of family or
group diners, which was unfortunately
not realised, along with the dynamic
copper and Corian-fabricated staircase,
which also got scrapped.
The absence of a design integrity
is visible as you step in, with parts of
the restaurant finished beautifully
while other major portions seem to be
conspicuous with the absence of any
particular character.
The flooring was supposed to be a
warm granulated BASF in situ floor,
which again got substituted for standard
cold vitrified tile, laments Mujib.
Going on to the challenges of designing
in the Middle East, the architects,
quite fearlessly talk about the lack of
professionalism in the construction
sector. Mujib says, It wasnt a real
challenge to design in a restricted space;
the challenge is to design a highly
innovative project in the Middle East
on a smaller scale and to get it realised
with the design intent intact. The
infrastructure is virtually non-existent.

Most of the material had to be

imported. We selected the
best-known contracting
agencies in Qatar, who bungled
at every conceivable instance,
as they havent done a project of
this detailing and finesse
before.

ORIGINAL
LAYOUT
The conceptual
plan as given by
the architects
which was not
executed in
details.
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It is a cookie-cutter, or overtly simplistic,

design market at that scale of the project.
On the other hand, an innovative project
can happen at an impossible premium
cost, which most of the new businesses
cant afford.
Pointing to the lack of detailing and
almost non-existent work ethic, he says,
Most of the material had to be imported.
We selected the best-known contracting
agencies in Qatar, who bungled at every
conceivable instance, as they havent
done a project of this detailing and
finesse before.
It was a difficult game; of
Collaborative having to push the
contractor and clients to stay within the
design guidelines, with the clients trying
to manage the bleeding capital and the
contractor always looking for easy ways
out and executing a basic job by cutting
down on the design intent, rather than
focusing on a great delivery.
While the end product is indeed a
beautiful interior space reflecting the
cuisine that is to be served, for the purist
there are gaps in design and workmanship
which reflect on the standards of work
execution in the country.